VILLAGE OF EXETER

This blog is sponsored by the Village of Exeter and it is for all the past, present and future residents of Exeter. It is a place to comment on the happenings of Exeter and your place to inform the community

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Exeter-Milligan Fourth Graders help dress bunnies

So do the bunnies multiply on their own? Mary Ellen Blatchford crochets over 600 bunnies every year for her family to give away.

Everyone loves the bunnies that Mary Ellen Blatchford crochets every evening while watching Wheel of Fortune. Her granddaughters have enjoyed her bunnies for years. Picture from the left are granddaughter, Rita Smith of Omaha, granddaughter Rhonda Veleva of Grand Island, Blatchford and daughter Beth Vavra of Milligan.

Mary Ellen Blatchford, an 89-year-old York resident keeps her hands busy every day reading, emailing on the computer, but most of all crocheting.

Every year for the last 30 years she has made over 300 crocheted bunnies for her daughter and grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. Her family figures she has made over 12,000 bunnies so far and continues to give them all away. This year and for the past 10 years Exeter-Milligan fourth graders have helped her accomplish this goal.

It all started when “a neighbor gave me one. I made a few and gave them to Beth (her daughter). Beth asked for a few more to take somewhere and I decided I better make 100. Thirty years ago when my granddaughter was born when people came to visit her we gave them a bunny,” explained Blatchford.
Blatchford loves to crochet and every evening during Wheel of Fortune she crotchets five bunnies; “I do quite a few more when I watch Lawrence Welk on Saturday evenings.”

During the winter months Blatchford likes to crochet blankets and her specialty, prayer shawls. These are prayed over and then donated to those in need of extra prayer, usually those suffering with an illness.
Blatchford sends about 35 bunnies to each of her five granddaughters. Her granddaughter Rita Smith, of Omaha, was visiting and asked for “just a few more.” Of course, Blatchford encouraged her to take what she needed. Granddaughter Rhonda Veleva of Grand Island asked Blatchford to send her "naked" bunnies this year. She and a young lady she mentors got to "dress" the bunnies together.

The decorations on the bunnies have morphed a bit over the years. Originally she tried cotton balls for their tails and felt eyes. It was the bunny ears that troubled her the most, “I ironed them, starched them and just couldn’t get them to stand up. We finally started to put a small magnet on them to keep them from flopping over.”

These days Blatchford gets a little assistance putting on the pom pom tails and squiggly eyes. For the last ten years, her daughter, Beth Vavra, has brought a few of the Exeter-Milligan fourth graders to York to help with the embellishments.

Vavra, works as an aide at the Milligan campus and enjoys bringing the girls to meet and help her mother, “We come after school and glue the magnets on the back and then go eat supper while they dry. When we come back we turn them over and glue on the eyes and the pom poms. They get to pick out two to take home and they usually fight about which color pom pom should go on which color bunny. The fourth grade girls look forward to the outing every year.”

So far the bunnies have ended up all over the world. Through foreign exchange students and those donated to servicemen, the bunnies are world travelers. When her granddaughters were in school they took bunnies for each of their classmates and Sunday school classmates every year. Smith recalled that some of her classmates still have all of the bunnies they received throughout the years.

Blatchford’s favorite color is a light pastel bunny, “I don’t like the camouflage but the boys sure do.”

Although Blatchford makes them for Easter decorations, “People leave them up all year,” said Vavra. Blatchford has crocheted other holiday decorations including ghosts, spiders, pumpkins, and hot dogs as refrigerator magnets but only produces the bunnies in mass quantities. Lately she has been working on Oreos and butterflies for granddaughter Roxanne’s upcoming wedding.

Fortunately Blatchford had this year’s batch of bunnies complete before she fell and broke her arm although Vavra claims, “People have joked that she just makes two bunnies, puts them in a box and they multiply.”

The Lady Tmberwolves took a hit at the CRC tournament on Monday night losing to Cross County35-20 to be knocked out of the tournament. ...

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EXETER COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Feb 17 -The Exeter United Methodist Church will be having a soup supper Sunday, Feb. 17 from 5 – 7 p.m. in the memorial room of the church.Serving homemade soup, sandwiches and desserts for a free will offering.

Feb 24 - The Exeter American Legion Auxiliary will be holding their annual Spaghetti Dinner.

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Exeter-Milligan State Champions

VOLLEYBALL2009 - State Champions

2010 - State Champions

2011 - Runner Up at State Tournament

2012 - State Champions

2014 - Third place at State Tournament

2015 - State Champions

2016 - Third place at State Tournament

2017- State ChampionsFOOTBALL2012 - Runner Up at State2013 - State Champions2014 - State ChampionsBOYS BASKETBALL2015 - State ChampionsGIRLS BASKETBALLSOFTBALLTRACK2017 - Boys Third Place at State Track

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Exeter Village Marshal

How do you get police help in Exeter? First call the Exeter Village Marshal Line. Listen to the message. It tells you. . . You have reached the Exeter Village Marshal's office and are unable to take your call at this time. If you have an EMERGENCY - hang up and DIAL 911 or call the Fillmore County Sheriff's Department at 402-759-4441. If you are looking for the Exeter Village Clerk, that number is 402-266-3051 or you can leave a message and the next available marshal will get back to you. ******Please DO call 911 if it is an emergency. If you have a loose dog caught you can call the Village Office to see if someone is available to take care of it********

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Do you have an Exeter history photo to share for the history corner? Please feel free to email them to bartudl@windstream.net with caption information or contact Leesa Bartu at 402-266-3651. We would love to accumulate a data base of old photos about Exeter to share.

Public Health Solutions

SENIOR BOYS EXETER HIGH CLASS OF 1949

SENIOR BOYS EXETER HIGH CLASS OF 1949 The guys in this picture are L to R. Richard Thompsen (Red), Gaylord Becker (Beck), Hans (Hike) Nelson, Don Chapman, Dale Rasmussen, Bert Becker, Richard Erdkamp. Bob Leif, and Keith Nielsen. It was taken in the spring of 1949 as we were to graduate that year from Exeter High School. The photo was taken by Lela Ann (Becker) Hassler who was also a member of the class of 1949. The photo was shared by Hans Nelson.

The Second photo is five senior members of the 1946 Exeter High School six man football team. Left to right:

Tin Cans: These are most of the canned goods on your pantry shelves. Preparations: Rinse, labels can be left on. Flatten gallon or large cans .

#2 Plastic (HDPE) This is a harder colored or white plastic is not clear. Examples: milk and water jugs, laundry detergents, shampoo, coffee, some yogurt, margarine & cottage cheese containers. Check the bottom number to be sure Preparations: rinse and discard lids, crush large containers

#1 Plastic (PETE) All plastic bottles that contain liquids consumed by humans are packaged in clear or colored # 1 PETE plastic bottles. Some other food such as catsup and salad dressing may also be this type but you must check the bottom number to be sure. Examples: pop, cranberry juice, sports drinks, liquor Preparations: rinse and discard lids

What NOT to do! Please do not use this trailer as your garbage dump! Items must be clean and properly sorted or the recycling company will not accept the items. DO NOT throw in bags, boxes, string or other “holders” along with the recycling items.